Spirit of the Wandering Fox
by Wacko12
Summary: For my "Naruto of the Yin-Yang" Challenge. After retrieving Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki is banished due to hatred and trickery from the very village had had sworn the protect. Now six years later, an older Naruto has been found by Konoha and Akatsuki. But he sees neither as an ally and will not lose the freedom he has been given...nor for his daughter.
1. A Fox Found

**This was inspired by various stories that I've read as well as for my own challenge "Naruto of the Yin-Yang" So now I'm proud to publish the first chapter! I know I have other stories that I still need to do but I feel that if you have an idea that you believe should be heard (or read in this case) then you must let it out and thus that is what I'm doing. And without further ado read, review and enjoy. Note there will be parings but won't be the main focus of this story**

"Talking" Normal Speech

"_Talking" _Thoughts

"**Talking"** Bijuu and Summons talking

**(Within Fire Country)**

Deep within one of the many forests of the Fire Country, bodies of bandits laid strewn across the ground with a few hanging on branches. There weren't even twitching, all of them were dead, killed in different ways each: sword slashes, broken necks along with other broken body parts, burned alive, drowned, slashed in multiple places or stabbed. These bodies were once missing-nin who had originally tried to kill their target for the large bounty on the target's head. But instead they were the ones who were killed

The killer of these men, who was still fighting some remaining bandits, was a young man who looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties. He stood about 171cm in height and had tan skin with no signs of baby fat whatsoever merely lean muscle. His hair was a spiky red with a short ponytail going down his neck and ending at the center of his back. But a red colored kitsune mask that had blue colored designs covered his face, thus denying people the chance to see his true identity.

His clothing consisted of a long black cloak with long black sleeves and a hood and red stripes going over the sleeves, including around the wrist collars, down the cloak's side and the back as well as the hood too. At the center of the cloak's back was a large red whirlpool symbol. Black fingerless gloves covered his hands and you could see a bit of what looked to be dark crimson bracers strapped around his forearms. Over his legs were black pants while he had blue sandals on his feet. In the man's right hand was a katana that instead of silver had a red blade, which was attached to a black and red striped handle with a round black guard. The blood on the blade blended in easily with it every time the man struck someone down.

As he struck down another one, the leader a missing-nin, decided to use ninjutsu instead of trying to charge in blindly. Acting quickly the ninja formed several hand seals. "Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!" And unleashed a large fireball straight towards the redhead man. Said man did nothing as the fireball consumed him in an inferno of death.

The missing-nin watched the scene with relief as his attack burned the spot where the redhead man stood. That was until he briefly saw something pass by him and then nothing but darkness.

The kitsune mask man watched, left hand raised with a double-bladed edge ninjato in it and blood on it, as the missing-nin's head fell off from its body towards the ground, followed by said body soon after. With all of them dead the mask man cleaned the blood off of the ninjato, but not the red-bladed katana, before sealing them away and began making his way towards the border. But just as he made a turn he paused and a second later thrust his left hand out with speed that a few could keep up. The hand grabbed something and the Kitsune man looked at it he saw it was a bug or to me more precise a kikaichu, a unique insect used by a clan that the redhead was familiar with.

Looking at it for a few seconds the mask man shifted his gaze to the left, his eyes concentrated on something that he could see. Then he looked back at the bug and with a simple movement, crushed the kikaichu. Once done redhead released its remains and then disappeared from the area.

Shino Aburame, a jonin-rank shinobi of Konohagakure, was staying perfectly still behind the tree he was using as a cover. While upset and angry of one of his bug's death, he knew that logically he would be no match for the kitsune mask man due to the high chakra he was given off. Furthermore the kikaichu had not died in vain, because while the mask man was focused on that one, another of Shino's insects had managed to acquire some of the man's chakra to confirm his true identity. Even after six years and despite drastic changes to his person from what could be seen, the man's chakra remained the same and Shino confirmed that the kitsune mask wearing man was indeed Naruto Uzumaki.

In all honesty Shino hadn't even expected to find Naruto. He had been returning from a mission given to him by his clan, to check out a site where rare insects that could use chakra were spotted. The mission had been successful and Shino began his journey back to Konoha, with a jar of some of the insects. That is when he noticed several chakra signatures a mile or so away from the Aburame. Several of them were at least chunin level but one of them was far greater, near Kage-level if not greater. Not only that but it was familiar too while the weaker chakra signals were disappearing one by one. And so after sending several kikaichu carrying a scroll for the Hokage, Shino rushed off to investigate and he was indeed right in who it was: The large chakra had belonged to Naruto Uzumaki; a former Genin of Konoha banished six years ago.

After making sure that Naruto was gone, Shino headed back to Konoha to inform the Hokage that his suspicion were correct and that Naruto was still alive and heading towards Wind Country, most likely Sunagakure. He had contemplated about sending some of his insects to track Naruto but the Aburame went against it. The reason was because it was clear that Naruto would easily detect them the moment they were near him. Thus Shino decided it would be wiser to inform the Hokage right away.

**(Wind Country, Sunagakure)**

Within the center of the village known as Sunagakure, where the Kazekage's tower was, the Godaime Kazekage, Gaara, was currently in his office. Normally, like almost every day, the young Kage would be sitting in his desk doing the bane of all Kages…paperwork. However today kami seemed too be on Gaara's side as there was little documents to look over and sign, so the redhead managed to finish up early and was now spending time by sitting cross-leg on the floor with an infant, about a year old, in front of him.

The infant, a boy to be precise, was almost an exact replica of Gaara, except instead of reddish brown hair the child had full brown hair and while he had the young Kage's green eyes, he didn't have the black rings around his eyes that Gaara possessed, nor the kanji for "Love" written in red on his forehead. The baby, wearing a light brown sleeping suit, was sitting up right on his bum, with a purple baby seat supporting him. The infant was happily playing with the number of toys around him, picking one up, playing with it, and then putting it down and moving onto the next. Now and then the infant would look up towards his father, in which Gaara would give a small smile in return causing his son to giggle happily and returning his attention on another toy.

Gaara heard the door to his office open slightly before closing behind him. But he did not seem to mind and neither the new occupant in the room, as he knew who it was. "You still haven't learned of knocking even after six years huh Naruto?"

The revealed and unmasked person, Naruto, whose whiskers were now darker, just smirked at his fellow jinchuuriki and good friend. "I wouldn't be me if I did that now would I?" Then he looked at the baby who was staring back with a curious look in his eye and a fist rubbing his nose. "Hey there Gakuto-chan how you've been?" Naruto asked kindly. The baby only gurgled before stretching his other arm out towards his father, his eyelids becoming heavy. "Hey where's Kanna-chan?" Naruto asked his friend who was picking up his sleepy son from the floor.

"She is back home with Matsuri and your daughter, whom I'm sure is the reason for your arrival." Gaara said as he used his sand to put everything in his office back in place while at the same time sealed up Gakuto's toys. "Matsuri wanted Kanna to stay in doors since she seems to be less anxious in seeing the rest of the village then Gakuto is."

Naruto shrugged and followed Gaara out. "Well if you're going home then I might as well follow you. I have too pick-up Kiko-chan and meet Yujin-san at Spring Country since Suna might be getting some unexpected guests in a few days." Naruto said as he followed the Kazekage out of his office.

Gaara raised an eyebrow at that before narrowing, understanding the hidden message. "Someone from Konoha saw you." It was not a question.

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah I figured it would be better to head back here and pick up Kiko-chan instead of just waiting for them to give up searching for me."

Gaara said nothing at first as they exit the building and headed back towards the young Kazekage's house where his wife, daughter and his friend's daughter would be waiting for them. While jumping through the roofs Gaara looked back at Naruto. "You know you could accept my offer of giving you asylum, saying that you're staying here under my protection. Heck why haven't the other nations or villages that you've save done the same thing?" The Kazekage commented.

Naruto shrugged. "Well for one I don't feel like being a burden to my friends and two giving me asylum would cause to much political problems with Konoha and most likely Fire Country if I accepted yours or the other's offers." Naruto answered.

Gaara gave the redhead a questionable look, blinked and said, "Since when has any of that stopped you?" He deadpanned.

Naruto smirked at the comment. "True but I didn't have someone precious to take care of during those times."

**(Konoha, Hokage Mansion, Hokage Office)**

Tsunade listened to Shino as he finished his report. When she first read the scroll the Aburame had sent beforehand she thought it was her bad luck again only to find out it wasn't. It looked like lady luck was on her side this time…that is depending if they could convince Naruto to come back. As she dismissed Shino, Tsunade's thoughts went back to how this whole mess had started.

It had begun when Sasuke Uchiha, one of the two survivors of the Uchiha Clan massacre, the other being his older brother and the perpetrator of said massacre, had deserted the village of Konoha. The reason: To join the rogue shinobi Orochimaru for power to kill his brother Itachi Uchiha after the Snake Sannin gave Sasuke a curse mark. He left the village at night and was escorted by four of Orochimaru's elite shinobi.

In response the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju, granddaughter and grandniece of the Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage respectfully, as well as one of the Sanin, trained under the Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, her teammates being Jiraiya and the rogue-nin Orochimaru, had sent out a team to retrieve Sasuke and bring him back. However due to the lack of manpower within the village, thanks to an invasion a few months prior, all that Tsunade could send out was a team of genin led by a newly minted chunin to retrieve the Uchiha. One of the genins was Naruto Uzumaki, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and one of Sasuke's teammates.

The mission was a success, though two of the members were critically injured they would live however after intense surgery and medical ninjutsu done by her, Shizune and several other Konoha medic-nins. The team, with help from the Sand Siblings, killed all four members of Orochimaru's elite guards the Sound Four along with the fifth member Kimimaro Kaguya who succumbed to a disease he had according to Gaara. Naruto himself faced and defeated Sasuke Uchiha, bringing his unconscious teammate back to Konoha. But little did anyone know that would be Naruto's last time in the village.

Since his birth and becoming the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto Uzumaki has been hated by the majority of the village and sometimes beaten too. The leaders of these beatings and other sorts were the members of the Civilian Council. This group consisted of wealthy merchants and other positions of power that were more interested in their desires then the village, such as making Naruto's life miserable. They also worshipped Sasuke Uchiha, keeping him on a pedestal in order to get on his good side and his clan's wealth. And with said boy injured by the one that they scorned for so long, they finally had a way of getting rid of the demon brat. Through careful planning and sneaking in a few documents into certain piles they had managed to begin their plan.

To explain more clearly Tsunade Senju, the granddaughter and grandniece of the Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage respectively and the current Godaime Hokage, was focused more on healing the members of the retrieval team particular Choji Akimichi and Neji Hyuuga, the two being in critical condition then all the others sent on the mission. Also in order to calm her rattle nerves when doing these serious medical operations, she drank a lot of sake to keep going. In fact she was so busy (and drunk) that she hadn't been looking at what she was signing one day when she was more focused on the current status of the retrieval team members. For if she had she would've noticed that one of the forms was a clause slipped in by the Civilian Council, with the help of Danzo, wanting her approval for a four year banishment of one Naruto Uzumaki, along with sealing his chakra, nullifying any summoning contract he had and forbidding him from entering Konoha and to a lesser extent Fire Country during his banishment. To Danzo, with the boy out of the village he could capture him and make Naruto into the weapon that Danzo believed he should've been.

But it was too late and the deed was done. The next day two ANBU, both assuming that the order they were following was approved by the Hokage and Council, entered the hospital room that Naruto was resting in and informed him of his banishment. This news shocked Naruto and it was then after anyone who saw him would say he looked like a broken man whose entire life was shattered in an instant.

Though the only people who'd seen him after that were zero since his female teammate refused to meet with him since she blamed Naruto for Sasuke's condition, his sensei seemed to be more concern with said Uchiha as well, the rest of his friends and loved ones were busy and unaware of his banishment and the fact that the ANBU had taken him to the prisoner wing of the hospital so he could finish recovering before they put the seals on him didn't help much.

However according to the ANBU, or former ANBU now courtesy of Tsunade, Naruto somehow had managed leave the village before any other seal was placed minus the seal that broke his contract with the Toads. After that he disappeared off the face of the map and even with Jiraiya's spy network couldn't find him. And since his contract with the Toads had been canceled they couldn't reverse summon him back to Konoha.

Tsunade found out after finishing up her other business and when her former teammate Jiraiya appeared in her office with a rare angry look on his face when Gamabunta told him that Naruto's contract was cancelled. When the Toad Sage told her, followed by him scolding her for not looking at what she signed, the Godaime Hokage went ballistic in a form both of rage, guilt and grief that she was tricked into banishing someone that she had just recently held dear to her like a son almost. After calming down, and demolishing the gate that Naruto had left through, along with everything else nearby that wasn't inhabited Tsunade called a meeting of the council in order too find out who tricked her in doing this deed.

After finding out the culprits, with them being either killed, imprisoned or removed from their positions on the council Tsunade had to deal with two more problems besides finding Naruto: Akatsuki and dealing with a group of furious nations and villages, the latter which consisted of Spring Country, Wave Country, Tea Country, Wind Country, Sungakure, Takigakure and Yukigakure. All of these places and the people in them, especially the village leaders and Daimyos, were greatly indebted too Naruto for saving them. They were also not pleased of how their hero was treated during his childhood and now his banishment, favoring over a boy, who had tried to turn traitor, just because he was the last of his clan. And while they still traded with them or have an alliance, due to politics stopping them from breaking all ties from Konoha and Fire Country completely, they were hardly friendly with the village founded by Hashirama Senju and Tsunade had a good feeling that they would secretly offer Naruto asylum if not so already.

The former, Akatsuki, was more troubling then the latter. Jiraiya told her that it was a group of several S-rank missing-nin. And seeing how two of their members were Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, the latter being a former member of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen. And that her other former teammate, Orochimaru, use to be member showed that this group was one not too be trifled with. Also from the little information the Toad Sage could uncover were that Akatsuki had an interest with the bijuu, all nine of them, for whatever reason or purpose was unknown. But anyone with an interest in the Bijuu was anything but good, especially if they were a criminal organization. Tsunade believed that this group and in turn finding Naruto were more important then worrying about a bunch of pissed off nations and villages. So for the past six years since that horrible day Jiraiya has had his spy network looking up for any signs of Naruto's whereabouts. While he still sent information regarding anything else of importance too Konoha, anything concerning either Akatuski or Naruto were sent directly too her, the contents only known too Tsunade, Jiraiya and Tsunade's assistant and senior student Shizune.

Once the door too her office clicked shut leaving just herself and Shizune, Tsunade let out a long sigh before speaking to the open air. "What do you think Jiraiya?"

Behind her, sitting on an open window was the Toad Sage and her former teammate Jiraiya. The man also had a frown on his face and was deep in thought before speaking, "Well Shino seemed pretty sure that this person was Naruto when he sensed the chakra. Aburame members aren't usually wrong when it comes to identifying chakra, similar to the Hyuuga clan. Jiraiya said, feeling relieved that after six years of no news of his godson that said boy was still alive. Then he added, "Got to admit that wearing a mask to hid his face was a pretty smart move of the gaki though the description of it rings a bell but I can't remember where." The Toad Sage said.

"Tsunade-sama what should we do?" Shizune asked, finally speaking with the Hokage's pet pig, Tonton, letting out an oink, as if asking the same thing too.

After thinking for a moment Tsunade let out a sigh. "According to Shino, Naruto appeared to have been heading towards Wind Country, most likely going towards Suna since Gaara is Kazekage and those two are friends." The Hokage said before pulling out a scroll. "We'll send a team there to see if the gaki is staying at Suna and hopefully convince Naruto that it's safer in Konoha then anywhere else."

Among all those that were angry over Naruto's banishment, Gaara was at the top of the list. A testament to that was that the young man almost killed the entire civilian council when he heard them saying some negative things about Naruto. Being a jinchuuriki himself, Gaara understood what Naruto went through and along with that was deeply indebted to the Uzumaki for helping him to get out of his original belief, namely killing everyone and acting like a psychotic killer. In fact Gaara owed Naruto for everything and getting him to where he was now, as Kazekage of Sunagakure and a married man to boot.

After telling Shizune to get Team 7, the young woman left the office thus leaving two of the three Sannin as the only occupants in the room. Jiraiya looked towards his blonde female teammate. "You know the chances of him wanting to return are slim." He said grimly.

Tsunade sighed, knowing how true that was. "I know Jiraiya, I know. But what choice do we have? If that group, Akatsuki, finds out where Naruto is then they'll attack Suna twice as hard since Gaara is also one of their targets. Suna doesn't have enough manpower to repel them. Also what's stopping Danzo from sending his ROOT goons to get Naruto when, not if, he learns about this and whether or not he succeeds will have a war against Suna because of his actions." The Hokage then lead back on her chair looked down at her desk, rubbing her forehead. "We just have to pray that Naruto still has some love for the village to come back. And if he does I'll announce his heritage to the villagers and shinobi, to make his life easier, Minato and Kushina's enemies be damned." The Hokage finished.

"Speaking of shinobi, why did you decide to send Team 7?" Jiraiya asked the Hokage.

"Well I'm hoping that by sending his old team, one of them being his crush, it will convince Naruto to return back to the village willingly." Tsunade replied before adding, "However by the sound of your tone you have your doubts about that."

"While normally that kind of thing could work but concerning this certain team it's a different matter." Jiraiya said. "Kakashi focused more on Sasuke then he did on Sakura and Naruto, with said kunoichi being a fangirl despite your training and hit Naruto more then you did to me. Hell I even heard that she blamed the gaki for hurting the Uchiha before Naruto left the village six years ago. I mean sure you managed to change Sasuke's way of thinking and views towards Naruto but that was after the gaki left. And then there is Sai the new member whom I'm sure you've noticed that he screams 'ROOT' all over. All in all I think either team 8, 9 or 10 would've been a better choice, hell sending Shizune or Iruka would be even better." Jiraiya stated.

Tsunade sighed in annoyance since she knew what Jiraiya was saying. "I know what you mean, but those teams are already out on missions and by the time they return Naruto might be in a different place now. And now that you mention it Sai will most likely report this to Danzo, being one of his drones and that seal on his tongue."

"I'm still looking into that but it's a piece of work though." Jiraiya added.

"And that warhawk will bring it up at the next meeting and will either try to push for the gaki's return or worse him and those other coots will want to label him as a missing-nin. Also some of the members of those other teams saw Naruto as the fox due to the Civilian Council's actions of breaking sensei's law until they were finally broken out of it." Tsunade finished.

When Naruto was banished, that had inadvertently removed the Sandaime Hokage's law concerning Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki and revealing it to the younger generation. With that gone the Civilian Council, along with several other civilians and shinobi that hated Naruto because of the fox, revealed to the younger generation of the Kyuubi. Because of that said generation was now divided upon what they now thought about the former genin and more importantly it caused a rift between the dubbed 'Rookie 12' Naruto's old friends.

On one side were the side that didn't believe the crap that the Civilian Council and other Naruto haters said and saw Naruto as a person and friend and not the fox. The first one was the lazy genius Shikamaru Nara who had quickly put two and two together and didn't hate Naruto thinking he was the fox. And following him was Choji, Shikamaru's best friend who believed Shikamaru and was good friends with Naruto too when they were younger. The next was Tenten who didn't see anything that screamed demonic or evil about Naruto along with her boyfriend Neji Hyuuga who also owed Naruto for helping the Hyuuga Prodigy open his eyes. After that was Shino Aburame and Neji's cousin Hinata Hyuuga. The former, like Shikamaru, figured it out quickly and found it illogical for Naruto to be a threat to anyone or to be even considered the Kyuubi in human form since it was the same as saying an Aburame was a bug. Hinata refused to believe that her longtime crush was a demon since she knew that someone as caring, protective and determined such as Naruto could ever be a walking mass of destruction and malice.

The last person, surprisingly, was none other then Sasuke Uchiha who after his return to Konoha and his discharge from the hospital had a long private chat with both Tsunade and Jiraiya. They showed him the results of using Orochimaru's curse seal; the same seal said man had given to Sasuke, and what the seal did to the body. That was to discourage Sasuke from doing another stunt like that one again. What they did next was that Jiraiya and Tsunade revealed to Sasuke the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, which Jiraiya had learned from Sarutobi before the Sandaime Hokage's death, and every file on Naruto and the miserable life the boy had in the village. It was from these things that changed Sasuke from trying to leave the village to gain power to kill his brother Itachi as well as regretful for his actions that caused Naruto's banishment

The other side unfortunately was the side that believed Naruto was the fox despite what their parents said, with their reasons being stupid and shallow until a year after the boy's banishment. Sakura and Ino were the worse, the both of them being Uchiha fangirls and thus hated Naruto for the 'extreme injuries' given to Sasuke. And Kiba hated Naruto because of the power he had, along with his defeat by said boy's hand and the fact that Hinata had a crush on Naruto too. Lee was somewhat on their side since he wanted Sakura's attention but that caused a rift between him in his sensei Maito Gai, said taijutsu master disappointed in his prized student's "un-youthful" decision. This caused several rifts within the teams of the Rookie 12. However that all quickly changed when Lee, Ino and Sakura were scolded by Gai, Shikamaru and Tsunade respectively of how foolish and shallow their hatred for Naruto was did the three finally snap out of it while Kiba had it beaten into his head by his mother, Tsume Inuzuka, and his sensei, literally.

"For now let's just hope that Kakashi can convince Naruto to come back without using force." Tsunade of the present mumbled but loud enough for her former teammate to hear.

**(Hidden Location)**

Deep within the darkness of a dark cave, the astral images of nine figures could be seen standing in a circle. One of them, with metallic silver and rippling eyes, spoke first. "It appears that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has been discovered." The man said before turning his attention to another person, a male that had the unusual appearance of having a venus fly-trap attached to his body. "Zetsu" The first man said.

Zetsu spoke to the others in his two different voices. "Turns out he's actually Kodama (Fox Spirit), that wandering-nin whom made a name for himself these past few years." White Zetsu said. **"He was headed towards Wind Country, most likely to Suna since he's good friends with the Kazekage." **Black Zetsu finished.

"So now two of our targets are in the same place." Kisame, a former Kiri-nin and member of the Seven Swordsmen with a shark like appearance, said.

"Maybe but its most likely that he won't stay there for long." Pain, the leader and the man with the unusual eyes said. "According to Zetsu the jinchuuriki was seen by a Konoha shinobi who most likely put two and two together and has reported it to the Hokage. Meaning they might send a team to retrieve him from Suna."

"He'll also be a challenge to take down." Kakuzu, the banker of Akatsuki, said. "If he is Kodama then he'll be S-rank if his achievements are anything to go by. The bounty placed on his head is enough to set someone for life."

"Perhaps we should ignore him for now." Itachi Uchiha, the man responsible for the Uchiha Clan Massacre and Sasuke's older brother, suggested. "While this is the first sighting we have of him for over six years, we do not know Naruto's full abilities right now. Going after him unprepared would be unwise."

Pain nodded in agreement though he was confident he could handle the boy. "Agreed besides we need to seal the Kyuubi last anyway. What is the status of the other jinchuuriki?"

"Well the Ichibi is in Suna as you already know. **The Nibi hasn't been leaving Kumo as much but she still takes missions so there will be an opening the next time she does. **The Sanbi is still in the same lake it's been in for the past three years, undisturbed so now would be the best time to snag it before Kiri gets wind of its location. **The Yonbi is still wandering around Earth Country and the last time he's made contact with anyone from Iwa was two years ago so he's pretty much isolated though Iwa seems to be getting restless of having their jinchuuriki out of the village so they might send people to get them. **The Gobi is actually back in the village and by his own will from the looks of things. **The Rokubi was traveling around Fire Country with a member of the Tsuchigumo Clan a few months ago but they were allowed to join Kiri again since the civil war was over and the jinchuuriki was given a full pardon by the Godaime Mizukage. **The Nanabi is currently in Takigakure though she does take missions so we can wait for the next time she leaves the village. But she's also gain more control over her bijuu and she can fly now too. **The Hachibi we should also avoid for now because he's being confined in Kumo though he leaves the village now and then to train in some mountain area in Lightning Country." **Both sides of Zetsu said together.

"I see" Pain said before looking at the rest of the members of Akatsuki. "Will focus on the Sanbi since its still in the wilderness and is alone. Sasori that will be your assignment and afterwards you and Deidara will make your way towards Suna. Deidara you will go capture the Ichibi since your skills will be useful with the jinchuuriki being in the village most of the time." The rogue Suna puppeteer and the Iwa bomber nodded.

"Wouldn't it be better for me to get the Sanbi since it's in the water and I'm a Suiton user?" Kisame said, voicing his opinion.

"True but you and Itachi will be going to retrieve the Yonbi since it's far away from the village. According to our intel the jinchuuriki has the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai, which is also enhanced by the Yonbi. You're Suiton techniques and chakra absorbing abilities would prove more beneficial with that." Pain said.

After hearing the reason and the logic behind it Kisame nodded and backed down.

Pain continued soon after. "It is doubtful that the Rokubi will leave Kiri for missions anytime soon since the village is still recovering for the civil war, which goes for the same for the Hachibi whose brother the Raikage keeps him in Kumogakure. So we'll ignore those two along with the Gobi and the Kyuubi for the time being, which leaves us the Nibi and Nanabi. The former is assigned to Hidan while the latter is assigned to Kakuzu. Since we don't know yet when they will be out of the village you two will remain on standby and make the best of it while increasing our funding so we can continue later missions."

"Fucking great, more dumbass bounty hunting when I could be doing better shit in Jashin-sama's name!" Hidan cursed with his usual swearing mouth.

"Shut it Hidan you're damn religion is the reason why we have to earn more cash in the first place." Kakuzu snapped.

"What will I be doing leader-sama?" White Zetsu asked.

"You will continue surveying the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki so we can get a better grasp of his abilities. If he is indeed this Kodama person then he will not be an easy target." Pain said before eventually ending the meeting and one by one the images faded away.

**(Three Days Later, Wind Country, Team 7)**

The reformed Team 7, consisting of one jonin and three chunins, had recently made it into Wind Country about yesterday and after camping out in a cave to avoid the nighttime sandstorms, the team had continued on its way towards Suna, with two different set of orders. The first and official order was for the team to deliver a scroll with a letter from Tsunade discussing the trade agreements between the two villages. She had originally planned to send it a week later since the deadline was only two weeks away but she figured that this would be a good excuse to get a chance of finding Naruto. This led to the second and unofficial order given to Team 7 by the Godaime Hokage: confirm Naruto Uzumaki was staying in Suna and try to convince him to return to Konoha for safety against Akatsuki…force being only a last resort.

Also with the Kazekage's sister, Temari, staying in Konoha due to her role as ambassador, Tsunade wanted the team to leave as soon a possible before the Suna Kunoichi caught on and warned her brother and Naruto a head of time. Of course the idea of questioning Temari about how long she knew, if at all, of Naruto's interactions with Suna came up, but Tsunade shot that down. Not only would that cause international problems between Konoha and Suna, Temari was very strong willed and equally skilled and might escape before they could question her. Also Tsunade would probably get an earful from Yoshino Nara, the woman being angry that the Hokage and Jiraiya might've ruin her chance of getting a daughter-in-law since it was well known that Temari and Shikamaru Nara were dating. The fact that the lazy genius was always assigned to escort Temari helped too.

But back to Team 7, Tsunade sent them as not only were they the only team available she could trust, but she hoped that they could better convince Naruto. But as explained by Jiraiya before, force might open right at the get go do to the history of that this team had with Naruto Uzumaki, who originally was a member of it. Kakashi Hatake, the jonin instructor, was ashamed of himself for not trying to be a better teacher to his team and not pointing Naruto and Sakura in the right directions to make them stronger. Those things had caused him to lose respect from his jonin colleagues and even his leader a bit. For the past six years he has been doing everything in his powers to make amends for those failures, especially to his sensei for failing his legacy and hopefully he can correct that mistake today.

Sasuke was also hoping for redemption on his part that caused Naruto's banishment. After the meeting with Tsunade and Jiraiya six years ago, Sasuke became a change man from the brooding avenger boy he was once. He was ashamed of what his clan had become before Itachi killed them and while he understood why his brother did it, Sasuke still desired to be the one to bring Itachi to justice and at the very least to understand why Itachi did it. Of course Sasuke was also focus on finding Naruto but also knew that trying to get the blonde to return to a village that treated him like shit wasn't going to be easy (A/N: They don't know Naruto changed his hair color)

Sakura had changed much over the past six years, and not just her skills. While originally she hated Naruto for "critically injuring" Sasuke, she soon learned the hard way that that kind of thinking did her little good as Sasuke yelled at her for siding with him when he tried to leave the village to join a sick missing-nin and nearly got the team sent to get him, including Naruto, nearly killed. It also should be noted that Sakura was nearly strangled to death by Tsunade during one of her lessons did Sakura finally see how shallow her reasons were and that she had done nothing but hurt Naruto.

The fourth and final member and Naruto's replacement, Sai was well…really had no opinion on the matter of what he thought of Naruto. This was due to the fact the pale boy doesn't know the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki personally and that he was focus on following both the orders of the Hokage and his true master Danzo Shimura. Said orders were to bring the jinchuuriki back to the village so Danzo, whether with or without Tsunade's permission, place a loyalty seal on Naruto to ensure his loyalty to Konoha and to Danzo.

Back in the present the four Konoha shinobi continued their trek across the desert before Sai's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Kakashi-san, I see my ink birds and rats returning." The pale boy said to the jonin.

Said jonin and his two other students stopped when Sai announced this. Kakashi had Sai send several of his ink creatures ahead to scout the land towards Suna just in case Naruto passed them or something. The rest of the team watched as the ink creatures landed on a pulled out piece of paper Sai had out. Quickly the animals took the forms of letters while the rest formed a map. "What do they say?" Kakashi asked.

"They say that a person that matches the description that Shino-san gave is walking away from the village… towards the border of Fire Country by the looks of it." Sai said in his usual monotone voice.

Kakashi's visible eye widened for a moment but returned to normal before anyone saw. "Which way?" He asked quickly.

Sai pointed towards the east. "About four miles that way, just near where there is a cluster of rocks nearby. If we move now we should make it there in about thirty minutes or less and can intercept him." Sai reported.

"Okay everyone we move towards the cluster an wait for Naruto there. We won't move until we confirm it is." Kakashi said to the others. "And remember we're to try and convince him peaceful to return to the village…force is to be used only as a last resort, understood?" Kakashi emphasized the last part towards Sakura especially, who had a dark look in her eyes before it vanished. Soon all three chunins nodded before they took of towards the direction Sai pointed too. While they were running Sasuke decided to bring up one fact, "You know the chances of us even getting to agree to come back to the village are _very _low." Sasuke said.

Kakashi didn't say anything to that, but merely nodded at the truth in those words. Sai however commented, "Doesn't matter if he agrees or not duck-butt. Our orders are to retrieve him no matter what." Sai said. The comment on the Uchiha's hair earned a glare from said boy and a lump on the head courtesy of a certain pink hair girl and a sigh from the jonin.

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto halted in his leisurely walk, being careful not to awaken the small sleeping bundle strapped to his back. His blue eyes narrowed. "Kurama…" Naruto said to the Kyuubi that was sealed inside of him.

"**I sense it too kit" **The fox with nine-tails said, who had originally been asleep but now had one eye lazily open. **"Several chakra signatures heading towards you. And one of them with negative emotions is approaching as well." **Kurama added.

"_It has to be Konoha."_ Naruto thought to himself but also to Kurama. _"But the old hag couldn't have sent someone that would rather kill me then capture me? The only person who would have any reason, even if it is stupid, would be…" _Naruto's eyes widened as he figured it out before they narrowed followed by a low growl. Kurama, having already figured it out as well, chuckled darkly.

"**Looks like it's going be a regular team reunion." **The Kyuubi said dryly.

Though he knew that Kurama was joking, Naruto also knew that he couldn't really escape using Mikado, his own Space-Time Ninjutsu that he created from studying his father's Hiraishin (He had managed to acquire his father and mother's notes on the night he ran away from Konoha, when he learned about his origins from the Kyuubi himself. Said bijuu stated that he had no desire to have a weak container or being anyone's pawn, especially a certain warhawk) due to the fact that he had none of his special double-edge bladed ninjato close enough to teleport them too, excluding the one he kept in Suna with Gaara's permission. But he couldn't go back there because even though Gaara could deny Konoha of giving them Naruto, the Uzumaki knew that it wouldn't stop his former village from trying to brink him back to Konoha for his "safety". So Naruto figured that the best thing to do would be to stall his former teammates long enough for him to place one of his ninjato close enough for him to teleport too but far enough so that he would have a good distance away from his pursuers.

With that decision made Naruto bit his right thumb and then formed the hand signs before slamming it on the ground, saying, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and then a puff of smoke that reached Naruto's waist appeared. When it disappeared, in its place was a fox with a long tail and dark red fur with two yellow stripes that looked like lightning going of its body from its eyes to its tail. **"Hello Naruto-sama, do you require my assistance?" **The fox asked with a voice that was obviously male.

"Hey Doro-san, I got some pursuers heading towards me and don't have enough time to get some distances from them either." Naruto said as he touched the red bracer on his left hand, releasing a ninjato that was sealed in it. He then handed it to the fox named Doro. "I need you too take this and Kiko-chan to the borders of Fire Country, which is a few miles away, while I distract them. Once you reach the border send a pulse of chakra through this ninjato. That will alert me and I'll teleport right away." Naruto finished.

"**Understood Naruto-sama"** Doro said as he used his tail to grab the weapon by its handle. Then Naruto carefully detached the baby carrier that held Kiko before attaching it to Doro's body, making sure that the toddler was resting on the fox's back. The slight movement pulled back the hood on the girl's orange sweater, revealing her red hair with pigtails. The jostling also woke her up slightly as her eyelids open, revealing weary and tired purple eyes that stared at Naruto's blue eyes. "Daddy…?" She said tiredly, her eyelids slowly closing.

Naruto just smiled at his three-year old daughter before rubbing a comforting hand over her red hair. "Don't worry sweetie Daddy just needs to deal with some bad people. So you'll be riding Doro-san for a little bit but Daddy will be back soon." Naruto replied to the child, whom had already fallen back asleep. Giving a nod to the fox, Naruto watched as Doro sped off towards the border at a speed that would've made a certain green spandex wearing shinobi and his mini-version jealous. As the fox sped off Naruto let out a brief sigh, eyes closed, before they snapped back open instantly, a determined and hard glare now showing in his eyes as he prepared to deal with his former team.

A couple of minutes later Naruto was walking through the cluster of rocks that Sai had described around the same time. The redhead had a calm look on his face as he walked through the cluster of rocks. He continued walking when he sensed several nearby chakra signatures. Acting on instincts Naruto vanished from his spot on top of a large rock looking down at his previous position just as four people surrounded it, three of them he recognized and one he didn't.

Kakashi was the first to recover from the surprise of how fast Naruto moved but was even more surprise when he got a good look of his former student. The Uzumaki now had red spiky hair that his mother's clan was well known for instead of the yellow hair that he had inherited from his father. The former Konoha shinobi however still had his blue eyes. Snapping out of his stupor Kakashi gave his signature eye smile. "Yo Naruto! How's it been?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, as if he was trying to figure out if Kakashi was joking. "Kakashi…I would call you sensei but seeing how I'm no longer one of your students and that you've never really been an actually sensei, I won't." Naruto said nonchalantly.

'_Okay I guess I had that coming" _Kakashi thought to himself before regaining his composure and speaking. "Naruto, we've been sent by orders of the Hokage to-"

"I have no intentions of going back to that hellhole of a village." Naruto said in a serious voice, cutting off Kakashi's sentence. "Despite the fact I was banished I feel a lot happier then I've ever been in my whole life and I won't be taken back to a place that would rather see me dead."

"If you refuse to come back willingly then we will capture and force you back dick less." Sai said emotionlessly, though the last part earned a tick mark from Naruto but said person merely pushed it aside.

"I'm guessing he's my replacement?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Kakashi. "His manners needs some working since its clear that he has no knowledge of negotiating if he talks like that." Naruto commented.

Sakura gave Sai another lump on the head, seeing how he made the situation worse. While that was happening Sasuke spoke. "Look Naruto the Hokage made a mistake and she's sorry. She even put down those idiot Civilian council members that tricked her and she's willing to compromise. Also there's a group of-" This time Sauske was cut off by Naruto.

"S-class missing-nin who are after me for the Kyuubi, blah, blah, blah." Naruto said boringly. "I already know that and I've been doing a wonderful job of staying out of their radar and I'm more then ready to deal with them." He said.

"Naruto please you can't really believe that you can take on a group of shinobi of Kage-level strength on your own! You won't be able to stand a chance by yourself. Tsunade-sama knows this and wants you to come back so she can protect you." Sakura said but flinched at the glare the redhead gave her.

"I really don't want to hear anything from you Sakura. Especially not about helping me seeing how many times you've countlessly hit me for petty to no reasons at all just for being myself or trying to help you." Sakura couldn't help but flinch again at that and had the decency to look ashamed. Naruto though, also hid his surprise that it was Sai whom was emitting the negative emotions and not Sakura, but didn't say anything on the matter. "Now you all have one chance to get out of my sight and never bother me again. Or else I'll use more… extreme methods."

Kakashi sighed seeing how this was not going the way he wanted it to go. "I guess there really isn't anything we can do to convince you." He said, not asked as he pulled up his headband, revealing his sharingan.

Ignoring the roaring demands of Kurama to rip the "cursed eye" from Hatake's face, Naruto calmly replied, "No there isn't" He finished before using his advanced shunshin Zanzo (Afterimage), disappearing into thin air and then reappeared before Team 7, shocking them at the incredible speed the redhead just showed. However before they could react Naruto raised both his hands and shouted, "Funryu Taiho! (Jet Cannon)" And fired a powerful blast of wind chakra from both of his palms, which he had thrust forward. The results were all four members of team 7 being blasted backwards from the impact of the wind and sent them back a great distance. Kakashi was the first to recover, having done a flip in mid air and landed on the ground. Sai and Sauske skidded across the sandy ground while Sakura, who had been in the center of the attack, had more trouble recovering and instead crashed into a nearby rock, causing a small crater in it from the impact.

"Well… that was interesting." Kakashi said as he regained his breathing. Despite having been able to land easier then the others, Naruto's attack took a lot of air out of him, literally. "At least now we know that he's a wind user." The Copy-Cat Shinobi commented.

"Yeah but that means lightning techniques won't work as well." Sasuke commented as he got up and had already pulled out his chakra blade chokuto. "We don't even know the full extent of his abilities so that makes things even more troublesome." (Back in Konoha a certain Nara sneezed)

"What makes you think I'll give you times even to react?" Naruto asked as he began focusing wind chakra into his right pointer finger. "Kuki Yubi! (Air Finger)" And fired a large blast of wind in the shape of a bullet right towards the two sharingan users. However Kakashi's experience came in handy as he quickly countered it. "Doton: Doryuheki! (Mud Wall)" Kakashi said as he finished the hand signs and slammed both hands on the ground. Then a wall of earth with four dog heads appeared before Kakashi and took the bullet of wind head on. While the earth wall managed to stop it the impact caused it to crack severely. _'For my Doryuheki to be so seriously damaged…that's one hell of an attack Naruto has.'_ Kakashi thought to himself as he surveyed the damage.

While this was happening, Sakura and Sai had not been standing idly by. Sai quickly took to the air on an ink bird while Sakura had charged towards Naruto's right side with a large clump of rock in her hand. Using her chakra-enhanced strength Sakura threw the rock towards Naruto. But in response Naruto merely smacked the rock to the side with ease and a bored look on his face as if he was unimpressed. However Sakura used that brief moment to get closer to the redhead, preparing to deliver a strong punch to the face to knock Naruto out. But instead of getting the results she hoped for, Sakura was shocked to see Naruto merely raise his left hand and the emit a brief pulse of chakra that canceled out the chakra in Sakura's fist, allowing Naruto to grab it with ease.

Naruto smirked at the shocked and confused look on his former teammate's face. "In the end Sakura, all you're good is hitting with your fist, thus showing your uselessness." Naruto remarked dryly before grabbing Sakura's wrist and pulling the pink head closer towards her and then delivered his own chakra-enhanced punch right into Sakura's stomach. This caused the Haruno to keel over and cough out some blood.

Suddenly Naruto's ninja senses went up and the redhead turned to see Kakashi upon him, a suppression seal in his hand. Not to be overtaken by this Naruto raised his right finger and fired another Kuki Yubi but this time instead of being large as the first one, this one was smaller, the actual size of a bullet, and a lot faster too. It quickly pierced Kakashi's right shoulder, surprising the jonin at the sudden attack and dropped the suppression seal. But before he could recover, Naruto threw Sakura right at Kakashi, sending both teacher and student flying backwards.

Before he could relax Naruto felt a shadow over him. Looking up the redhead saw Sai on his large ink bird release a dozen smaller ink birds with explosion tags attached to them, straight towards the Uzumaki. But Naruto remained undeterred as he formed hand seals. "Futon: Yofu! (Hawk Wind)" And then Naruto blew out some wind from his mouth while at the same time swiped his arms like wings and fired a large gust of wind in the shape of a hawk. The bird of wind made contact with the smaller ink birds and suddenly the ink birds dispersed while at the same time the explosive notes attached to them went off, causing a large explosion in the air.

Taking advantage of Naruto's attention on Sai, Sasuke charged in, Sharingan active and sending lightning chakra into his chokuto. The Uchiha's plan was to touch Naruto with his blade and send out a brief pulse of electricity through the redhead's body, paralyzing him. At the same time Sakura and Kakashi had managed to get themselves untangle and the former charged in on Naruto as well.

But none of them expected what came next. Naruto shot out his arms towards Sakura and Sasuke and extending from them were chakra chains, the same ones Naruto's mother Kushina could use. The chains moved at blinding speed before wrapping themselves around Sakura and Sasuke with the latter losing his grip on his chokuto. With both of them caught Naruto began swinging them around like flails, with Naruto striking Sasuke into the ground hard while swinging Sakura upwards right towards Sai who hadn't even seen it coming. The kunoichi medic slammed right into the artist boy, destroying his ink bird and sending both of them crashing into the ground.

After receding the chains back into him Naruto looked around for his former sensei, only for him to be nowhere to be found. _'If he's not coming from the front, behind, left, right or above then that only leaves…'_

Popping out of the ground beneath Naruto were two hands that made a go for his redhead's feet. But instead Naruto shouted, "Funryu Tejun! (Jet Step)" And suddenly Naruto's feet release a powerful burst of wind chakra that sent Naruto high into the air. At the same time, Kakashi was hit dead on by the burst of wind chakra and the Naruto was sure he heard a few of the jonin's bones break. But it turned out to be naught when 'Kakashi' suddenly dispersed from existence revealing it to be a shadow clone and not the real one.

Naruto looked to his right and saw the real Kakashi leap towards him, a tanto in hand. However when Kakashi swung the tanto at Naruto, lightning chakra infused with it, Naruto brought up his right bracer and sent chakra through it. Thus a chakra shield appeared from the bracer and blocked the sword strike. Naruto then followed it up with grabbing Kakashi's right shoulder, where the wound from Naruto's Kuki Yubi, still was. As it had yet to heal the sudden pressure on the wound caused Kakashi to flinch and lower his guard but gave Naruto an opening.

"You're moving way to slow Kakashi. Your age catching up to you?" Naruto asked mockingly. Then without warning Naruto shouted, "Funryu Kenju! (Jet Pistol)" And plowed a wind chakra punch right into Kakashi's chest, breaking some bones for sure this time as well as sending Kakashi plummeting to the ground. Naruto however landed gracefully on a large rock overlooking where Kakashi crashed.

"Chidori Senbon!" A voice shouted from behind Naruto. Said redhead spun around to see Sasuke fire a hundred or more lightning chakra senbon flying straight towards him. But Naruto reacted quickly while thinking, _'I'll have to use a technique from my bloodline element to counter this since I can't use a higher level Futon Technique to stop it.'_ Naruto thought as he formed three hand seals that ended with the ram seal. "Onmyoton: Sekinetsu Satsuei no Jutsu! (Yin-Yang Release: Red Hot Shot Technique)" And then Naruto fired a large ball of red energy surrounded by electricity from his mouth, and was the same size as a Gokakyu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique). The ball made contact with the flying senbon but merely knocked them to the side as it continued flying towards the still shocked Uchiha.

It was only a few seconds before it made contact with him did Sasuke snap out of his stupor and performed a quick substitute with a nearby rock. When the ball struck the rock it exploded; not a loud explosion but still pretty noisy and sending small debris of rock flying everywhere nearby the point of impact.

Before Naruto could celebrate several ink lions jumped up from all around him, getting ready to pounce on the Uzumaki. Acting quickly Naruto sent chakra to both of his bracers, causing chakra blades to pop out the front of the bracers. Now armed Naruto began slashing through the ink lions with ease, ignoring as some of the ink splashed onto his clothes.

Back with Kakashi, the jonin had been pulled out of the crater he had made by Sakura who soon began running a diagnostic jutsu on her sensei. In front of them was Sai, standing guard and drawing three more ink lions. As Sakura began healing Kakashi as best she could, or until he could still fight, the silver hair jonin commented, "This is not going as well as I thought it would." Kakashi murmured but loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"I still can't believe how strong he is now. Naruto was never this strong six years ago." Sakura added as she healed the wound on Kakashi's shoulder, stopping the bleeding that had begun. "And those chakra chains were tough, I couldn't even break out of them."

"Yeah…" Kakashi murmured, a far away look in his eyes as he remembered another Uzumaki who used the same chakra chains. "Where's Sasuke?" The jonin asked, getting out of memory lane.

"Duck-butt had just barely avoided some attack I've never seen before. I sent an ink clone to check on him while I'm having my ink lions distract dick less." Sai said without looking at Kakashi. "But I can't keep this up forever though and my attacks aren't really doing much to tire him down."

"Knowing Naruto, he won't tire out so quickly." Kakashi said as he started to get up, Sakura already finishing healing the more serious and painful wounds. It still hurt a little for him to get up, but Kakashi knew that lying down wasn't something he could do. "We need to find a way to freeze his movements and then I can place a chakra suppression seal on him however…" Kakashi said, deep in thought.

When he saw the curious looks on his two students he explained. "So far Naruto hasn't shown any signs of trying to finish us off. This could mean that he doesn't want to kill us because he may still care for us or that he doesn't want to be put into Konoha's bingo book. Or it could mean that he's buying time to make an escape. The last one makes more sense since he made it clear before the fight that he doesn't want to cause a scene." The jonin finished.

"Do you think he already has an escape plan and is just waiting Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked while Sai drew one more group of ink lions to attack Naruto. The redhead didn't even look exhausted as he continued using his chakra blades to fight the lions and now a recovered Sasuke.

"Most likely, which means that we need to subdue him now before he escapes. We won't get another chance like this in a while." Kakashi said as he pulled out a kunai and charged in to join Sasuke, followed by Sakura and Sai.

Naruto had just destroyed the last ink lion when Sasuke charged towards him. Deactivating his chakra blades, Naruto unsealed the red bladed katana and parried Sasuke's chokuto before delivering a swift kick to the Uchiha's chest. But that didn't stop Sasuke who recovered quickly before bringing down his chokuto again. However Naruto managed to stop the strike with his own sword once more but the redhead glanced to see Sakura and Kakashi coming at him, the latter with a tanto in hand. Not wanting to be pinned down so the others could strike, Naruto managed to swiftly knock Sasuke off his feet before sending a strong kick to the stomach. This sent Sasuke skidding backwards with the air knocked out of him too.

During the charge Kakashi had seen Naruto draw the red sword and his eyes had widened as he recognized it. _'Impossible! That sword… it's Kushina's! But it should still be in the estate at Konoha!'_ Those were the thoughts going through Kakashi's head. But the jonin kept his composure as he prepared to get behind Naruto, hoping to knock him unconscious with a chop to the neck.

Naruto saw Kakashi out of the corner of his eyes, as well as Sasuke, who had recovered, coming up from his left while Sakura did a jump in the air and intended on attacking from above. Naruto was about to act when he felt something…liquid grab his legs. Looking down Naruto saw several ink snakes wrapping themselves around the Uzumaki's legs. They weren't holding him down indefinitely but they were restricting his movements severely. Still Naruto had been in these kinds of situations before and knew how to act accordingly in both freeing himself of the snakes and knocking his former teammates off their feet. Clapping his hands Naruto shouted, "Futon: Tatsumaki no Hashira! (Tornado Pillar)" And right a way a pillar of fast spinning wind popped from the ground, surrounding Naruto. While it dispersed the ink snakes, a few seconds later the tornado expanded and struck Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura all at the same time. The spinning wind must've been sharp as the three members of Team 7 had several cuts on their bodies, with only a few being deep enough to cause bleeding.

Just as the tornado dispersed Naruto felt a sudden spike in his chakra; Doro had finally reached his destination and planted the Ninjato as ordered. "Well I have to say that this little reunion was fun but I'm afraid I have to be going now! See ya…maybe." Naruto said the last part with a smirk. Before any of the Konoha shinobi could act the redhead disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace that he was there whatsoever much to the shock of the others.

'_Was that the Hiraishin?'_ Kakashi thought to himself in surprise as he looked at the spot that Naruto had been standing moments ago. Finally snapping himself out of his state of shock, the Copy Cat shinobi got back up on his feet as he went to rejoin his team. Sakura was healing a few of the wounds she had just required from Naruto's last attack. Sai had just landed besides her and since he was slightly chakra exhausted from making so many ink creatures at once, he didn't have multiple cuts on his body. Kakashi was actually a little bit better then Sakura since his flak jacket took most of the damage from the tornado, though now it had numerous holes in it though he had some cuts on his arms. Sasuke was the farthest away from the expanding tornado and was slightly graze by it then injured really.

"No one is seriously wounded I presume." Kakashi said to the three chunins as he lowered his headband to cover his sharingan eye. He winced though since the bones that were broken by Naruto's Funryu Kejun hadn't been fully healed.

"My wounds aren't to bad that I can't move properly." Sasuke said as he sat down on a small rock, catching his breath. That battle was very intense and took a lot out of him. "But I'm pretty sure if I fight again I'm going to be hurting a lot during the whole time."

"I'm fine except for chakra exhaustion and I didn't bring any soldier pills with me." Sai exclaimed as he put away his tanto.

"I don't think we can continue the mission even if we were in top shape." Sakura commented. "Whatever Naruto did just now it looks like it took him far away from here." She added.

"Sakura's right" Kakashi said as he looked around for some hopeful signs of Naruto, but of course found none. "It looked like he used some kind of technique similar to my sensei's Hiraishin. He's probably gotten a good distance away from us too and it be impossible for us to track him since we don't know which direction he teleported too."

"Before we caught up to him it looked like he was going north through Fire Country." Sasuke said while Sakura began healing his wounds.

"He won't stay in Fire Country for long, not with Konoha knowing that he's still alive." Kakashi said as he pulled out a scroll and began writing in it. His plan was to send Pakkun ahead of them to inform Tsunade of what had just transpired. With their wounds and low chakra, it would take Team 7 a while longer to get back to the village. "The only place north that Naruto would go to is Spring Country since he's good friends with Koyuki-sama." Kakashi added as he finished writing. Once he was done with the scroll he took some blood from a wound and performed a quick set of hand seals. Slamming his hand on the ground he said, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" And followed by a small puff of smoke appeared a small puppy with a Konoha headband on his person.

"Yo" Pakkun said before he got a good look at Kakashi. "Whoa Kakashi the hell happened to you? You look like you came back from a date gone wrong." The dog-nin exclaimed.

'_Is that what I really look like at those times?'_ Kakashi asked himself, a sweat drop appearing in response towards Pakkun's description. But he soon shook it off as he handed the dog-nin a scroll. "We just had a confrontation with Naruto-"

"Didn't you say that the Hokage wanted you guys to negotiate with him?" Pakkun asked, interrupting Kakashi's explanation.

"Yes but we weren't able to convince and force to try and detain him." Kakashi said, an annoyed tone in his voice. That was a sign to Pakkun to shut up and let Kakashi finish speaking. "This scroll has the info of what happen along with which way we believe Naruto went and the location. This is for the eyes of the Hokage ONLY do not let anyone else see it before her. Also tell Tsunaed-sama I'll have a detailed report when we return to the village." The Copy-nin said.

"Got it" Pakkun said as he took the scroll with his mouth, biting down on it so while his teeth didn't tear through it, it wouldn't fall out of his mouth. Without wasting a second Pakkun sped off at impressive speed towards Fire Country and towards Konoha.

While Pakkun was performing his task, Kakashi turned towards the rest of Team 7. "Pakkun will most likely get back to the village a day or two ahead of us. We'll move at a more leisurely pace so we don't exhaust ourselves then we're already are and not reopen our wounds. But it's imperative that we get back to the village as soon as possible to think of our next move before Akatsuki gets to Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Heh, personally I doubt they will give him much trouble seeing how he managed to toss all four of us like rag dolls." Sasuke grunted as he sheathed his Chokoto.

"We were trying to capture him without causing any permanent damage." Kakashi rebuffed. "Akatsuki won't care in what condition he will be in as long as he's brought back alive."

There was a brief but tense moment of silence before Sai broke it. "By the way what was that attack that he used to deflect your Chidori Senbon? I never saw a technique like that before." Sai said looking at Sasuke.

Kakashi was also curious as well, since he saw the technique, or a little of it but he did see the explosion. If Sasuke hadn't dodged it then the young Uchiha would've been fatally injured or dead. "I was wondering the same thing Sasuke. The technique looked like a Katon technique." The Copy Cat said.

"I had thought so too but it wasn't since I didn't see any fire chakra in it." Sasuke said as he got up. He looked towards the crater formed by the attack's explosion; internally glad he had dodged it. "I was able to see the words he said and he said Onmyoton, not Katon."

Kakashi's visible eyebrow went up, surprised by that. "Onmyoton? Are you sure?" Kakashi asked intently.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah it might be a kekkei genkai or something." The Uchiha suggested.

"To be honest Sasuke I hope you're wrong and just heard it incorrectly." Kakashi said quietly but enough for the rest of his team to hear. "Because if it is then I think things got just a hell of a lot harder."

**Done!**

**I hoped you all liked that. Anyway if you're curious about the challenge then just check it out on my profile page or send me a PM.**

**Anyway review!**

**Fanon Jutsu**

**Zanzo (Afterimage): **An advanced version of Shunshin, in which the user leaves a transparent image of themselves while moving to a different location. This is more perfect as it doesn't require smoke and the transparent afterimage makes a good way of tricking the enemy.

**Funryu Taiho (Jet Cannon): **A Wind Technique when the user fires a blast of wind chakra from their palms, blasting the enemy backwards. When used at close range it can break some bones.

**Kuki Yubi (Air Finger): **Naruto focuses wind chakra into his finger and fires it like a bullet towards the enemy. This is a very useful technique as Naruto can change the size and speed of the attack to whatever he desires.

**Futon: Yofu (Wind Release: Hawk Wind): **Naruto inhales a large amount of wind before exhaling it. As he does this he swipes his arms to the side, like wing almost. This gives the wind release take the form of a hawk, which has a powerful impact to it while the sides of the attack, or "wings" can cut apart nearly anything.

**Funryu Tejun (Jet Step): **Focusing chakra into his feet, Naruto can launch forward at an impressive speed, allowing him to avoid attacks, reach his enemies and get them by surprise, or to strike his enemies below him with the wind chakra released.

**Funryu Kenju (Jet Pistol): **Similar to Funryu Taiho except with only one arm. Cocking his arm back while focusing wind chakra into his fist, Naruto launches it forward and releases a powerful blast of wind that is good for both short or mid range. The power of the attack is enough to send a person backwards and make them cough up blood.

**Onmyoton: Sekinetsu Satsuei no Jutsu (Yin-Yang Release: Red Hot Shot Technique): **A technique using Yin-Yang Chakra, Naruto fires a ball of red energy from his mouth or hand that can have its size changed according to the user. It can either be fired small, the size of a person's head and used rapidly, or very large and dense that it can deflect smaller attack with ease before exploding up making contact with something bigger and stronger.

**Tatsumaki no Hashira (Tornado Pillar): **Clapping his hands together, Naruto summons a tornado around him. This tornado can deflect almost anything with the spinning sharp wind encircling Naruto. When the technique is at an end, it expands/disperses, the wind still sharp and moving as it expands. This can be an extra attack as an enemy can be injured by the wind. They either received numerous cuts or are pushed back roughly.


	2. News, Preparations and Actions

**Next Chapter! Also in response to pairings, so far the only pairings I know I'm having in this story are Temari and Shikamaru and Neji and Tenten. There's a lot of questions if there will be Naruto and Hinata but I'm not sure yet. Anyway read, enjoy and review and don't forget to check out my challenges.**

**(Konoha, Hokage's Office, Three Days After Team 7's Battle With Naruto)**

An annoyed Tsunade slammed the door to her office hard, nearly knocking them off their hinges, a sign she was angry. Behind her was her senior apprentice and assistant, (as well as the niece of her deceased lover Dan) Shizune and Kakashi Hatake, the latter with some bandages and band-aids on his body since he and his team had just got back to the village. Sitting on the windowsill was Jiraiya, whom seem pretty anxious to hear Kakashi's reports as well as some other things, which shockingly had nothing to do with his 'research'

But back to Tsunade, the reason for the Hokage's annoyance was the council meeting that had just ended a few minutes ago, the reason surrounding the events of Team 7's mission and its objective. Even in this kind of situation a council meeting would not be needed unless something that affected the village as a whole and required the meeting. Even the event of a team being sent out to bring back a former shinobi of the village, the jinchuuriki to boot, were to happen it wouldn't be necessary for a council to be summoned. The reason being that all missions are given to by the Hokage who is the only person whom can know about the mission's parameter and its results and did not need to be known to the council.

None of that mattered in this case for the reason was because that Danzo, after learning from Sai about the results of the mission, summoned a council meeting. Though the Hokage herself could only do such a thing, if the topic was, as said before, of importance/concern to the village, then another member of the council could call a meeting. In this case was the growing fear that Naruto might want to exact revenge towards the village. Danzo had hoped that by playing on their fears of Naruto, the civilian council and maybe some members of the shinobi council, would force Tsunade to label Naruto as a missing-nin or the very least making his retrieval back to the village as a primary focus, where Danzo could secretly enforce loyalty onto the boy. Kakashi was also there since as team leader it was his job to report what happened during the mission.

However that did not turn out to be the case. Naruto hadn't killed any of the members of team 7 and as such could not be labeled a missing-nin unless there was solid evidence that he had killed a shinobi of Konoha. Of course the civilian council put up a stunk about it, but after a harsh scolding (Where one member of the council was knocked straight through the walls courtesy of Tsunade when he said the word "abomination") did they stand down. And so now we find ourselves in the Hokage's office, with Tsunade already sending the ANBU away before putting up the privacy seals.

"Sometimes I wish my granduncle didn't come up with that damn council idea." Tsunade of the present groaned as she plopped back down in her seat.

"Yeah and after seeing the look on Danzo's face after hearing about Naruto's skill set, from both Kakashi and most likely Sai, the old warhawk will probably do everything in his power to get Naruto under his control, your permission or not." Jiraiya commented as he sat on his usual windowsill.

"Okay Kakashi, I know that you held back a lot of stuff that was left out during the meeting. But seeing the fact that I got a letter from the Kazekage asking why a Suna border patrol saw your team leaving, though I have a feeling that he had found out from Naruto somehow, I believe that the situation is a lot more serious then you made it out to be. Now I want the full story of what happened when your team encountered Naruto." Tsunade ordered the silver haired jonin.

Kakashi sighed before going into detailed explanation of how he and his team ran into Naruto and after failing to negotiate with him, "Apparently he holds quite the grudge towards us, specifically me and Sakura…Sai also got on his bad side by insulting him."

"Told you that sending them was a bad idea." Jiraiya added.

Tsunade gave her former teammate a brief glare before looking back at the jonin. "What about Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm not fully sure about Sasuke." Kakashi said. "Naruto didn't really sound as hostile towards him as he did with the rest of the team, despite having been used as target practice for a Chidori. Though that isn't saying that Naruto doesn't hold some animosity towards Sasuke."

"So that means the next team we send has to be on good terms with Naruto the next time we get wind of him." Tsunade concluded before asking another question that she has been meaning to ask since the team got back. "Kakashi revolving around your fight with Naruto, how would you rank him skill wise?" Tsunade asked, as she was quite surprise when she read the report from Kakashi, given to her by Pakkun, about how bad Team 7's injuries were. It was rare to see one of the village's top jonin to be such a mess.

Kakashi sighed; he had expected this question to be asked and had already formed a response for it. "Well he's gotten fast that's for sure, and is equally strong too. Naruto also had some kind of advanced shunshin technique that creates an afterimage of himself. His reaction timing is at least jonin level, along with taijustu and we discovered he's a wind user."

"He must have gotten it from Minato. He did have a high affinity for both lightning and wind chakra." Jiraiya added.

Kakashi nodded in agreement before continuing. "From what I saw so far Naruto's wind techniques seem to resolve mostly around close to mid range that involve impact and piercing methods, along with having an impressive wind technique for defense and offense. Its possible that he might have wind techniques that can use the wind for other areas such as cutting." Kakashi paused for a breather before going on. "Naruto, from what my sharingan could see, has twice the amount of chakra he had six years ago, so that means his levels are almost biju levels. He also has pretty good chakra control since somehow he was able to release a small pulse of chakra to cancel out Sakura's chakra enhanced punch with ease."

That part shocked the two Sannin and Shizune. Both the fact that Naruto had discovered a way to stop the chakra enhanced strength Sakura had learned from Tsunade. Along with the fact that Kakashi calculated Naruto to have biju-level chakra and incredible control, given the fact that when he was younger, the Uzumaki had poor control due to his large reserves, it really was quite a shocker. It made Tsunade wonder where Naruto was or doing for the past six years to have gotten such strength and at the same time control. Hell if Naruto hadn't been banished then he would've been a jonin by now or even Hokage.

But Kakashi wasn't done as he continued. "That last four things to know is that Naruto can use his mother's chakra chains by the looks of it and I'm not 100% sure but I think he can use sensei's Hiraishin since he suddenly vanished at the end of the fight. Along with those two he's pretty skilled in kenjutsu as he was using the Sekirei well against Sasuke and Sai's ink lions." The jonin said.

That really floored it for the other three occupants of the room. While the idea of Naruto using Kushina's favorite chakra chains wasn't all that surprising, since there was always the chance of Naruto inheriting it, the fact that he could use Minato's Hiraishin or a variation or something related to it, showed that Naruto was no longer the same boy that left the village but still had the talent of being the most unpredictable shinobi out there.

"H-how is that possible? The Chakra Chains I could understand since its possible for it to have been passed down to him genetically from Kushina, and it is an Uzumaki Clan technique. But any notes for seal formula for the Hiraishin is either sealed deep within their estate or died with Minato. The only people who could use it is the Hokage Protection Platoon but they need to be doing it together to use it." Jiraiya said before quickly adding. "And now you're telling me that the gaki has the Sekirei, one of the famous weapons of the Uzumaki clan? The same sword Kushina brought with her and is supposed to be sealed in the estate?" The Toad Sage asked, to which his response from the jonin was a nod.

Tsunade had grabbed a bottle of sake that had been sitting on her desk and took a quick chug of sake to calm her nerves. After doing so she looked up at Kakashi. "You said there was a fourth thing. What was it?" Tsunade asked though she had a feeling that it was going to give her another headache.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before finally replying. "During the fight Naruto used a technique that wasn't a Futon technique on Sasuke. At first I thought it was a Katon technique but Sasuke later clarified that Naruto had said Onmyoton."

The moment she heard the word Onmyoton Tsunade's mind flash back to her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, and something she had told Tsunade long ago. Meanwhile Shizune replied to Kakashi, "Onmyoton, as in the non-elemental chakra nature Onmyoton? How is that possible? Are you saying that Naruto-kun has a bloodline?" Shizune asked.

"Maybe, but whether it is or isn't we don't really know its full potential…or Naruto's to be exact." Kakashi said. "I admit that I went in unprepared, mostly hoping not to resort to force. Also because in case we did I thought he would've been the same kid that left this village six years ago. I didn't think he'd have change so much."

"That would be an understatement if what I learned is true." Jiraiya said catching everyone's attention, including Tsunade who snapped out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.

"Remember a few days ago when I said that the mask the gaki wore sounded familiar?" Jiraiya asked. "Well I looked into it and discovered that starting from four years ago a wandering-nin had been making a name for himself. Doing things such as helping overthrowing corrupting governments or stopping coup d'etat in several countries, said countries being Moon Country, Bird Country and Vegetable Country. The man also helped Hoshigakure in overthrowing their corrupt leader and even helped the high priestess of Demon Country in defeating an ancient demon called Moryo before it could be fully resurrected. And the most notable thing of all is that the person assisted the Kiri rebels in the civil war and from what my spies have heard, was the one who defeated Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage and the Sanbi Jinchuuriki at the time, all by himself." Jiraiya paused to catch his breath before finishing it off. "And so far no one knows what the guy looks like or his real name. The only thing anyone, besides maybe higher ups in these places, had to go by so far is that the man has red hair and wears a kitsune mask similar to the one that Shino described Naruto wearing. Hence the guy was called Kodama (Fox Spirit) due to his fox mask and that he always appears and disappears on a whim."

Shizune, Tsunade and Kakashi all had wide eyes and jaws hitting the floor, the latter excluding Kakashi since he had his mask on. They had no idea that Naruto had become _that_ strong over the past six years. But when they thought about it, Naruto was never one to give up giving his strong will and determination and it also made sense seeing how he easily he defeated his former team. Those accomplishments meant that Naruto had to be S-rank in skills, hell maybe even greater then that. But that also meant one other thing…

"That basically also means that in off chance that we have to use force and capture Naruto, which by the sounds of it is going to be hell itself, we'll have to deal with Wind, Wave, Spring, Tea, Vegetable, Bird, Moon, Demon, Water, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Takigakure, Yukigakure, Getsugakure and Hoshigakure?" Tsunade basically summed it all up. When Jiraiya nodded she groaned loudly before slammed her head on the table. Apparently she was greatly aggravated because her head butt caused the desk to split in two. Shizune immediately left to get another desk, leaving only the Hokage alone with her former teammate and Kakashi.

Finally the Copy Cat shinobi spoke. "Well political reasons aside, it might be better to let Naruto live his life. If what Jiraiya-sama said is true then he's clearly capable of defending himself at nearly anything thrown at him, including Akatsuki. And its quite clear he has no desire to come back here and continuing this might only increase his distaste towards the village. Hell it might make him join another village such as Suna or Kiri." Kakashi explained.

"Yeah but for how long?" Jiraiya asked before looking at Tsunade. "While I agree with Kakashi on this hime we also got to look at the cons too, such as the fact that Danzo won't just let Naruto wander around aimlessly or join another village. The warhawk will take action to get him back and most likely under his control. He won't risk killing him since only an Uzumaki can contain the Kyuubi unless Naruto has a kid. Then there's the fact that Naruto's actions that I've mentioned as well some others put the kid in the top ten of the Bingo Books in several villages as well as the Black Market. According to my sources the price on his head can set a person for life and there's no telling if he can take on a large group of people if they gang up on him. Also I don't think I need to explain about Akatsuki, everyone in that group is Kage-level shinobi and more experienced then Naruto. And then there's a chance of the _leader_ of Akatuski going into the fray, there is no telling how strong that person is."

"You're right Jiraiya" Tsunade said sadly as she began writing on a scroll that had survived being crushed along with her desk. "As much as I hate to do it, it's for the brat's own good if he is returned to the village where he can be better protected. I'll take the possibility of him hating the village and me and I accept it. I'll also reveal his full heritage when he returns. Hopefully that will get the villagers and shinobi to leave him alone and maybe even convince him to stay. I'll let him live in the Senju Compound since I usually live here in the Hokage Mansion and he's technically family anyway."

She had finished her sentence at the same time she finished the scroll and handed it to Kakashi. "That is the list of those that will be part of the next retrieval team. For now since we don't know where Naruto is, the members will have to focus on preparing for the confrontation. Also I want you and your team to tell the others all of the techniques that Naruto used during the fight, at least to give them some measure of being prepared. Also inform them of Naruto's alias too."

Kakashi nodded and left a split second later with a shunshin.

"I have a funny feeling I'm on that list aren't I hime." Jiraiya said.

"Damn straight you are along with team 7, 8, 9 and 10 with their teachers minus Kurenai since either she or Asuma has to stay back to watch over their kid. She's the best choice since I don't think Genjutsu will do much against Naruto. So I'm replacing her with Yugao whose kenjutsu should be enough to match Naruto's. Along with that I'm going to send Tenzo, Anko, Iruka and Shizune too, the last two hopefully make him see reason before we have to use force. And in the off chance that things really go to hell, I'll have the Hokage Platoon on standby to use the Hiraishin and teleport me to the area."

"That's a bit extreme don't you think?" Jiraiya asked as he listened to what Tsunade said.

"Hey I don't like it either but you said it yourself that Naruto is about S-rank in terms of skills. We don't know the extent of those skills but he was clearly a match for Team 7 even if their orders were to capture him. Naruto can most likely control the Kyuubi and use its chakra and since its clear he won't return to the village willingly will most likely have to use force and it won't be easy. Sending a large group of people who are chunin to jonin level is the best chance of bringing him back in the events that negotiations fail." Tsunade replied. "Besides with Tenzo there he can use his Mokuton to bind Naruto if either your or Kakashi can get the necklace on him and the numbers should be able to take on Akatsuki in the off chance that they encounter them during the mission."

"And in the event we do use force and bring him back we'll have hell raining down on us from not just the kid but from a long line of villages and nations, not please of having their hero being forced back to his home." Jiraiya added.

"Yeah but its better then having Naruto being captured by Akatsuki, turned into a weapon by another village or Danzo or worse killed just so someone can make a profit from his corpse. The way I see it it's the lesser of two evils to have him brought back to the village so we can protect him." Tsunade replied before getting up, heading towards the door to exit her office.

"Going to get a drink hime?" Jiraiya asked as he watched his former teammate leave the room. He figured that all the shit that's happening now, the decisions she's making, he wouldn't blame for wanting to get drunk to ease her mind.

However her words to his question were different. "No to the Senju Compound, there's something of my grandmother's that I need to see to confirm a suspicion of mine. Meanwhile I want you to get your spy network working on finding Naruto's location. The faster we find it before anyone else does the better." Tsunade ordered before leaving the office, not even giving Jiraiya a chance of asking what she meant.

**(Konoha, Training Ground 7, Konoha 12)**

The members of the unofficial Konoha 12, minus Sai, had gathered at Team 7's former training ground in order to hear from Sasuke and Sakura about their encounter with Naruto. By the time they were finished with the story, the others all had shocked expressions on their faces. After a moment of silence it was Shino who surprisingly spoke first.

"I admit I did not expect Naruto-san to have become that powerful. Looking back I'm glad that I made the logical decisions of not engaging him when I had the chance." The Aburame said.

"I wonder where Naruto got that sword he was using? Maybe he could let me take a look at it." Tenten said thoughtfully to herself when she heard the sword Naruto wielded as described by Sasuke.

"Yosh I am happy to know that Naruto's flames of youth have not diminished over the years!" Rock Lee said before adding. "Though the mention of him not wanting to return to the village is most concerning."

"That's an understatement of the century." Shikamaru Nara said in return. "It's a good chance that the Hokage is going to send out another retrieval team and I have the troublesome feeling its going to be us."

"P-perhaps not, m-maybe Hokage-sama will just leave Naruto-kun alone if he's happier outside the village." Hinata Hyuuga said in her usual shy voice. While she was happy to know that her crush was still alive, it also saddened her that he no longer wanted to return to his home. But she knew that he would be a lot happier outside Konoha anyway.

"She might be thinking that but she knows that she won't have a choice in the matter." Sasuke said. "The risks of him being captured by Akatsuki or another village that wants to increase their strength are too great. And as Shikamaru said before it's probably a good chance that another team will be sent to retrieve him and it will most likely be us."

"You don't think she'll send _all_ of us do you?" Choji asked his best friend Shikamaru while munching on some chips.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru muttered. "If what Sasuke and Sakura says is true and that they along with Kakashi-sensei and Sai couldn't lay a finger on Naruto then Hokage-sama will definitely send all of us. So that we can overwhelm him or maybe that a few of us will be able to convince him to return to Konoha willingly. Also we have to find him first before anything else."

"Couldn't you just ask Temari where Naruto might be?" Ino asked her teammate.

"She already left to head back to her village and even if she was still here she wouldn't tell me anything. That troublesome woman is to damn stubborn…hell I doubt even your father mind reading, Anko-san and Ibiki-san together would be able to get the answers out of her." Shikamaru said though he was more focus on the fact how this would affect their relationship. Dating someone from another village wasn't simple you know.

"It probably won't be that bad." Kiba said suddenly. "There's no way he'll be able to stand up against all of us if we gang up on him. And I bet after the Hokage apologizes he'll became the same idiot we all know and blow this whole thing over like he always does." Kiba said positively though it didn't seem like the others shared in the Inuzuka's idea.

"Doubtful" Sasuke said in response. "But either way until we hear any word of his new location we won't be going after Naruto for awhile, especially if its in a country that our presence could cause serious problems for the village and Fire Country. Also Hokage-sama that this is an S-rank secret meaning we can't tell anyone, especially the civilians, though she said that the Ichiraku were the sole exception."

"So that means no gossip talking Ino-pig" Sakura said to her old friend, half serious and half playful.

"Hey I'm not that bad!" Ino retorted in her defense before looking towards the others for support but got only silence. "Right?"

In another place in the village, one of the shinobi's bar, a similar conversation was going on between several people.

Kakashi was talking with Asuma, Gai. Yamoto, and Iruka about the mission they were given involving Naruto. Kakashi had already told Anko and Yugao respectively and just like with the four men with him, he also filled them in on Naruto's alias. He told them that their students would be informed later on. Currently he was telling his colleagues about his team's fight with Naruto back in Wind Country a few days ago. When Kakashi finished his tale, the others had looks of surprise and amazement.

"Damn" Asuma said, being the first to break the silence. "I didn't think the kid would've gotten that strong. Though its kind of hard to believe that he's this Kodama character that I've been hearing about."

"Same for me but Jiraiya-sama seems pretty sure that they're one in the same." Kakashi replied.

"If you look at the achievements that Kodama did then it would make sense that its just Naruto's alias. They also have a thing in common: corrupt and cruel individuals. Naruto has always been the one to save people from oppression and unfairness." Iruka added.

"Still I must admit that it's hard to believe how much the kid had change from an orange loudmouth to a S-rank shinobi in just six years." Asuma said still having trouble believing it.

"Truly Naruto's flames of youth are brighter then ever if he has accomplish such feats! I look forward to seeing him again." Gai said.

"I doubt it will be a friendly reunion." Kakashi said. Everyone noticed the depress tone in his voice.

"How bad is it?" Asuma asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Well does the fact that we're bringing Iruka with us help show how bad the situation is?" He asked rhetorically before looking at Iruka. "No offense I know your skills are good but excluding the Ichirakus and Shizune, you're the only other person who was kind to Naruto. You might have a better chance then anyone else in the village."

Iruka nodded solemnly as he took all that in. It also wouldn't hurt to get in a bit of training just in case…guess he could go and ask Anko for some help.

"Anyway we're not moving until we know where Naruto is…and in a place where our presence won't cause any problems for the village." Kakashi said. "Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama decided that we'll begin preparing the retrieval team tomorrow as a whole. We'll also have to take in the chance of running into Akatsuki too."

The others nodded in agreement.

**(Amegakure)**

Standing on the edge of the highest tower of the metal-like village that was Amegakure, was a spiky orange haired man wearing the Akatsuki cloak. What was unique about him was that covering most of his face were multiple piercings with three on both sides of his nose, two under his lip and several on his ears. The other thing were his eyes, they were a metallic silver color with a ripple like pattern in them converging on a tiny black dot-like pupil. Currently the man was simply staring up at the sky, completely ignoring the endless rain falling down on him.

"Pain" A female voice said from behind. The man, named Pain, turned around and saw a person standing at the entrance of the tower. It was a female, who appeared to be in her thirties-forties and wore the Akatsuki cloak as well. She had blue colored hair and amber eyes, with a lighter blue paper flower in her hair on the front right side. Like Pain she also had a piercings but only had one, which was directly underneath her bottom lip. The woman also wore lavender eye shadow too. "He's here." The woman continued.

"Understood Konan" Pain said to the woman before entering the tower, spotting a third person. Just like Pain and Konan the third person, a male, also wore the Akatsuki cloak but his entire face, minus his black spiky hair, was completely hidden by an orange mask with a swirl that converged onto a single eyehole on the right side of the mask.

"I assume that Zetsu told you about the recent information he gathered on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki…Madara" Pain asked the mask man.

Said man looked at Pein and for a brief second, a sharingan could be seen from the single eyehole on the man's mask. "Indeed and I see that I'm not the only one surprise by what Zetsu recorded?"

Zetsu had managed to record the fight between Naruto and his old team in the Land of Wind in order for the Akatsuki scout/spy to gain information on the jinchuuriki's current skill level. Needless to say the scout was shocked at said boy's skill level, as well as the rest of Akatsuki when the plant man showed the recorded battle to them the next day. Pain or Nagato being his real name, was quiet for a while after watching it before finally speaking, giving the order that for now Naruto would be left alone until he came to a decision of how to deal with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He told the rest of Akatsuki to continue focusing on capturing the other jinchuuriki.

"To be able to fight two sharingan users, one an S-rank shinobi, and escape unscathed is quite an impressive feat." Konan commented, joining in the conversation.

"Indeed" Madara said in agreement. "His use of kenjutsu, wind techniques and even the chakra chains that his mother could use are impressive. And the technique he used at the end look similar to the Yondaime Hokage's Hiraishin." The mask man commented. "But I believe that the real topic in mind is his sub-element, Onmyoton."

"A chakra nature that surpasses even the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton and an element that only one who wields the Rinnegan can use." Nagato said. The truth actually was that the Rinnegan enabled to use Onmyoton by combining its two divided chakra natures, Yin Release and Yang Release, which is how the Rikudo Sennin, the original bearer of the dojutsu, could use his Banbutsu Sozo no Jutsu (Creation of All Things Technique). And despite his great powers Nagato's skills were nowhere near the Sage's and he had only been able to use the technique to the extent of controlling several bodies, like he was doing now. But Naruto's Onmyoton allowed Naruto to actually use the chakra nature, along with Yin Release and Yang Release.

"Indeed, there has only been one other person who had the Kekkei Genkai and was coincidentally also a member of the Uzumaki Clan…" Madara said.

"My grandfather, Sadahiko Uzumaki" Nagato said suddenly.

Konan seemed surprise, not that Nagato was an Uzumaki since he told her a long time ago, but that he was the grandson of the most powerful man since the Rikudo Sennin. Madara, however, wasn't surprise by either, even though he was wearing a mask covering his face. But the evidence was in his voice, which remained calm and collected, as he said, "So you know." It wasn't a question.

"I found out from my mother when I was a child." Pain said quickly, not wanting to bring up those memories of better times.

As if reading her old friend's mind, Konan changed the subject. "But that doesn't explain how the jinchuuriki has it. Even if he is from the same clan that doesn't mean he could have Sadahiko's sub-element. Neither the Shodaime's children or grandchildren inherited the Mokuton and Nagato didn't inherit Onmyoton from his grandfather so why does the boy have it?" She said.

Without hesitation Madara replied, "While you bring up a good point the best explanation is that like Nagato, Naruto is also closely related to Sadahiko, being his great-grandson from his mother's side."

Konan's eyes widened, as did Nagato's Deva Path, before the latter reverted back to his normal impassive look. "And how did you know that?" Nagato asked, with a hint of edge in his voice this time.

Unfazed by it, Madara merely said, "I kept close tabs on the last Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Kushina Uzumaki when she was alive and while doing so discovered of her being Sadahiko's granddaughter. I preferred to have tabs on anything related to that man if I could."

"But our target is the jinchuuriki, not Sadahiko." Nagato added.

"Yes but that doesn't make it any less dangerous. If the jinchuuriki has the bloodline and mastered it, even if not on the same level as Sadahiko, he could become very difficult to capture. Combined with how he managed to escape from a tracking expert of Kakashi's level, along with the fact we still don't know the full extent of his abilities, we cannot afford to be reckless." Madara rebuked.

"You seem to be quite nervous with anything revolving around Sadahiko." Konan said a little bit mockingly. She never did trust the Uchiha, due to her feelings that he was merely using Nagato and took a little bit of joy at seeing him showing signs other then calm and confident.

However Madara was far from being angry at the hidden insult. "You would too if you saw what that man was capable of." The Uchiha said. "While he is the only other person I have ever respected along with Hashirama, Sadahiko Uzumaki is the only person in the world whom I've also feared too. That man was able to take both Hashirama and myself at the same time and defeated us too. His skills with Onmyoton, as well as fuinjutsu, kenjutsu and his clan's solid chakra shape manipulation made him a fierce shinobi of unparallel levels. And don't even get me started on what happened when he was enraged."

Soon Madara turned around and began making his way towards the same edge that Pain had been standing just a few moments ago. "After six years of staying off the radar, we've finally located the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. We cannot lose him again and we cannot afford to make any mistakes, not when we're close to completing our goal." And with that the ancient Uchiha disappeared into thin air, leaving only Pain, Konan and the endless rain. But the Angel of Amegakure could tell that something was troubling her old friend judging from the way that Deva Path was staring out into the stormy sky. "Is something wrong Nagato? You've been very quiet ever since this new info on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was given." Konan said.

At first the God of Amegakure did not respond but after a minute Nagato spoke, "Uzushio fell sometime around the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War. So why is it that my mother, an Uzumaki and furthermore the daughter of the clan leader at the time, was living in this country before Uzushio's fall?" Konan's eyes widened a little as she continued to listen to Nagato. "Until recently I haven't been really thinking about it, my mind focused on…other things. But now if the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is indeed connected to Sadahiko Uzumaki in some way, then there is also a chance he might head to Whirlpool Country. If that happens I will see to his capture personally and hopefully find an answer to my question."

**(Next Day Land of Spring, Daimyo's Palace)**

"I really wish I didn't have to wear this every time when I stayed here." Naruto mumbled to himself as he looked in the mirror. Since he revealed to her that he was still alive four years ago, Koyuki Kazahana, the Daimyo of Spring Country, had been kind enough to give Naruto a room in the palace whenever he stopped by. Unfortunately due to the fact he was a guest in a Daimyo's palace Naruto had to look respectable, meaning wearing a kimono instead of his usual outfit or even just a normal short sleeve shirt and pants. Hence why he was now wearing a red and black yukata, something that Naruto didn't like…he felt vulnerable in it though he was probably being paranoid. The good news was that he was allowed to have Sekirei strapped to his waist and also he had wristbands with seals on them too.

Naruto just let out a sigh as he adjusted the sash before putting on his sandals and walked out the door of his room. He gave a polite nod towards some passerby servants as he headed towards the garden, where a servant told him that Koyuki currently was with Kiko and Yujin. Naruto had a feeling that Koyuki would normally be doing something politic related but it was a good bet that Kiko "convinced" her using the infamous Puppy Dog Eye no Jutsu on the Spring Daimyo. There wasn't a single person that had met Kiko who didn't succumb to the Triple S-rank kinjutsu along with the little girl's charms. Hell even Gaara wasn't immune to it, from both Kiko and his own children.

A few minutes later Naruto had arrived to the medium size indoor-outdoor garden. Originally it was just an indoor garden including a glass dome over it. The reason is because Spring Country was still Snow Country at that time and the glass dome helped protect the flowers from being frozen to death. Of course now that it wasn't winter 24/7 Koyuki had the dome remade to allow someone to open a close it manually. And sitting on a bench at the center of the garden were Koyuki who was playing with Kiko, the little girl happily laughing as she picked out flowers. Both of them were wearing yukata, Kiko wearing a blue and red yukata while Koyuki wore a plain aqua and purple color instead of her more designed one that she wears for appearances during her duties as Daimyo. Also in the garden were several light armored samurai guards and, though not visible, four Yuki-nins (Those that had remained loyal to Koyuki and her father when her uncle took over the country) and Yujin who stood across from the guards but still had Kiko in his sights.

Yujin had a very unique appearance, and while he was the same size as a normal human, though a few inches taller, his skin was a dark green and he had no hair on his head either. His eyes had red sclera instead of the normal white with his eyes being completely black. He wore a simple long-sleeved brown hooded cloak that reached his ankles along with dark blue shinobi pants and shinobi black sandals.

The explanation to Yujin's unique appearance was simple: He wasn't human. The Rikudou Sennin created Yujin using his Banbutsu Sozo no jutsu (Creation of All Things Technique) 1,000 years ago. This made Yujin the only being alive who was older then the Bijuus. The reason for his creation was because the Sage wanted Yujin to watch over the world after his passing, to record the history of the world and one day aid the one who would take the Sage's mantle as the Savior of the World.

During the first few years since his creation Yujin had befriended the Sage's third son, Rekishi, the man who would later found the Uzumaki Clan. The two had a lot in common, namely their interest in history and knowledge and Yujin swore service to Rekishi and in extension the Uzumaki Clan. When Uzushio was being invaded Yujin was given the task of safeguarding the underground vault that housed the clan's important scrolls and relics so to keep them out of the hands of the unworthy and to help survivors of the clan that ever came back to Whirlpool Country. That's how Naruto met him, when said boy came to the island after learning about his lineage. That was actually about two months after he left Konoha and since then Yujin has faithfully served Naruto for the past six years, along with babysitting Kiko when Naruto was busy. And if he wasn't available…well let's just say Naruto never had to worry about finding a babysitter for Kiko.

His thoughts were cut off when his daughter's voice shouted, "Daddy!" And soon said girl ran towards him. Naruto barely had enough time to grab Kiko into a hug but still managed to do it and took comfort as he felt his daughter's warmth against his body. Even though it was for a brief second, that was enough for Naruto to feel like he finally had a light in his life of dark misery and pain.

When he put her down Kiko still had the same smile Naruto always had when he was younger, another sign of their daughter-father bond. "Auntie Koyuki and I are making crowns! See?" She said as she showed Naruto a band of flowers in her hand. "This yours!" She said cutely as she put it into Naruto's hand.

Naruto smiled softly as he took it, rubbing his daughter's head. "Thank you Kiko-chan!" He said with kindness. His response was a beaming smile from Kiko who quickly ran back to another batch of flowers, now focusing on making another crown for herself and for her Aunty Koyuki. As she was doing that, with Yujin near her, Naruto sat down on the bench beside Koyuki, both of them looking at the little redhead.

After a few moments of comfortable silence Naruto spoke, "Thanks again for letting me, Kiko-chan and Yujin-san stay in your palace for a few days Koyuki-chan." The older redhead said to the Spring Daimyo.

"No problem Naruto-kun. I'm always happy to have you and Kiko-chan over. That and my movie director is very grateful to you for letting them turn your book into a movie." Koyuki said, her comment making Naruto scratch the back of his sheepishly.

Three years after his banishment and completing his Onmyoton training, Naruto began writing a book calling it. "Wandering Spirit by the Crimson Tide" the alias he used instead of his real name. The story was mostly based off of his own personal life, it told the tale of a person who was betrayed by the people he swore to protect and his life afterwards as he traveled the world, seeking to find his place in life. The story was a mixed of drama, adventure and some comedy and sexual scenes in the book too. To be honest Naruto didn't really plan on publishing it and it took some coaxing from Yujin and Sadahiko to release his ideas. By the end of the first set of six months the book had become a tremendous hit, easily being more popular then Jiraiya's icha-icha series. The money he got was greatly welcomed to help Naruto survive and now being used to help Kiko too. So after three more years Naruto had already published two more books with the series all of them tremendous hits with no one able to figure out he was the writer. Naruto had revealed to Koyuki he was the writer, with her director begging to turn the book into a movie, with Koyuki starring as the main female character of course. Naruto was sort of uncomfortable with the idea but eventually agreed, if not to see what it looks like on film and the extra money would be appreciated.

"It was no problem, just make sure that myself and the others get free tickets for it." Naruto said jokingly.

"Of course" Koyuki replied in similar joking manner with a giggle after it.

The two once more entered a moment of comfortable silence as they watched Kiko, who was still skimming for suitable flowers. But after a few minutes Naruto noticed that Koyuki looked uncomfortable, like she wanted to ask him something but was nervous to speak. "Is something wrong?" Naruto asked her.

Koyuki hesitated for a second but finally managed to speak. "Well I know that it doesn't sound like a big deal but ever since I saw you with your hair dyed red, I assumed that it was because Kiko inherited her mother's red hair and you wanted people to think she got it from you." The Daimyo said.

'Ah so that's the reason why she hesitated' Naruto thought to himself. Koyuki probably thought it would've given Naruto bad memories of mentioning Kiko-chan's physical traits; that she assumed Kiko got her hair color from her mother. But that was far from the truth.

"The Uzumaki clan, mine and my mother's clan were not just known for our long lives and mastery of fuinjutsu, but also that every member was born with red hair." Naruto said to Koyuki who was listening intently. "I dyed my hair in order to hide my identity a little bit but also to honor my clan. Kiko-chan got her red hair from me."

That surprised Koyuki a little. She had heard about the Uzumaki clan and how they lived on the now deserted Whirlpool Country. But she had still assumed that Kiko had inherited her hair color from her mother. "So Kiko-chan didn't inherit her red hair from her mother's side?" Koyuki asked.

Naruto chuckled but it was an empty chuckle. "Kiko-chan didn't inherit anything from her mother…because there was no mother" He replied dryly.

Before Koyuki could ask what he meant by that when Naruto suddenly jolted a little. "The emergency alert seal I left for Gaara at Suna just activated." Naruto said to a confuse Koyuki. "A seal I gave to Gaara in case if he ever had to contact me for something. It sends the chakra of the user to me and judging by the surge of it, it must be very important." Naruto explained as he looked at a glowing seal on his wristband. Then he looked at Koyuki, "I'm sorry to do this after I just got here but could you…"

Koyuki waved her hand. "It's fine, your friend the Kazekage might be in trouble so you should hurry." The Spring Daimyo said.

Naruto smiled gratefully before looking at Yujin. "Yujin I'm heading back to Suna for a bit. When you get the chance try and look into that thing I asked."

Yujin bowed. "Yes Naruto-sama" He said respectfully.

Naruto looked at Kiko, the girl looking at him with her innocent childlike eyes. Naruto smiled kindly at her. "Daddy needs to go and see something but I'll be right back. So be good for Aunty Koyuki sweetie." Naruto said before teleporting in a red flash towards Sunagakure through his Mikado (God's Gate) technique.

**(Two Days Later, River Country)**

Near the border between Wind and Rain Country, three figures could be seen moving, or flying in ones case, at a casual pace. The first two were human and wore long dark blue cloaks with red clouds along with conical straw hats with a small ornamental torques and tassels covering their faces. The first one was a male and seemed pretty normal in appearance and looked to be relatively young, somewhere in between his late teens and early twenties. An odd thing about him was that his left arm was missing, with the sleeve of said arm torn apart at the end. His companion was the more odd looking one. This person was a male but was hunched back and thus shorter then the first male. The third being wasn't a human but instead a giant white owl flying near the ground but above the two men. Wrapped securely in its tail was the unconscious form of Gaara, who was also covered in bruises.

The one-armed male spoke, "We should be near the hideout soon, yeah" The male said.

The hunchback one grunted in response. "We would've gotten there sooner if you hadn't taken so long Deidara." He said annoyed.

"Hey that's not fair Sasori-sama. It's not my fault that the jinchuuriki was so skilled with that sand of his, yeah." The one named Deidara said in his defense.

"You got cocky and didn't bring enough clay with you when you had the chance after we were done sealing the Sanbi." Sasori countered. "Now because of that you're missing an arm and I doubt Kakuzu will attach a new one for you for free."

Though his hat was covering his face, you could tell Deidara had an annoyed look on his face at the realization.

The two continued walking for several more minutes, having gone back to a comfortable silence. But it was suddenly broken when a whirling noise in the wind could be heard from behind them. The two spun around and Deidara just narrowly avoided being impaled in the face by a kunai. "Where the hell did that come from uhn?" Deidara exclaimed as he looked for the perpetrator.

"So there was someone else besides that make-up wearing kid following us." Sasori mumbled to himself as he shifted his attention from the ninjato in front of him to check the rear along with Deidara. As the two were trying to find the person who threw the kunai, neither of them paid any heed to the sky as it darkened before overhead…wait why was the sky darkening?

'What the?' Deidara asked himself as he looked above him just in time to see Naruto dive towards him with a double-bladed edge ninjato in hand. Once again Deidara was saved by just a few seconds as a silver scorpion shaped tail lunged at Naruto. The Uzumaki managed to deflect the attack and do midair backward flip away from the two Akatsuki members. "Damn" Naruto said as he resealed the ninjato. "I was hoping that I could finish you both off quickly…guess that was thoughtful thinking."

Deidara, his hat having already come off and revealing his long blonde hair along with his eye-scope narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. "Hey Sasori-sama isn't that…"

"Yeah" Sasori said as his hat also came off, revealing his three grey hair strands sticking up from his head along with his mouth being covered by a black cloth. Sticking out from the back of his cloak was the silver scorpion tail. "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki AKA Kodama."

"Uhn, looks like I'll be taking down Itachi's target. I can't wait to see the look on his face." Deidara said with a cruel smirk forming on his face.

Naruto didn't seem affected by the declaration he merely drew Sekirei and got into a fighting stance. He was wearing a black coat with long sleeves along with a hood and red lines running all over the coat, forming a whirlpool at the back. Underneath it was a dark blue shirt and mesh shirt under it, along with long black shinobi pants and black sandals too. Naruto was also wearing his normal fingerless black gloves and red bracers underneath the coat's sleeves. "You guys have two choices." Naruto said in a calm but at the same time threatening voice. "Release Gaara willingly and I'll give you a painless death or…" This time Naruto's blue eyes darkened, giving off the feeling of a heartless demon and the coldest area on the planet at the same time. "I take Gaara back by force and give you both a painful death. Which one do you choose?"

**And there's the second chapter! Also revolving around how Naruto discovered and mastered Onmyoton, met Yujin, got the fox summoning contract and Kiko's origin will slowly be explained later on. Also how did you like my little move with Nagato? Anyway review! Also information on Naruto's Space-Time Ninjutsu will be revealed later on and also don't forget to check out my challenge!**

**Wacko12**


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